Equinox
by LookingForLily
Summary: What if Edward and Bella didn't reunite after him disappearing? Edward continues on with his family to New Hampshire, hoping to forget about his true love. He meets a patient of Carlisle's, who's mind he cannot read for a different reason than Bella. EPOV


I hadn't the faintest idea why I'd fallen in love with Lily Howard.

She didn't remind me of Bella. She didn't look like her, walk like her, talk like her, or do anything that she would've done.

But Lily and Bella had one thing in common.

I couldn't read their minds. But I could read everyone else's.

"Lily wants to meet you," he said. Carlisle looked exhausted. Not in a way that made him look like he needed sleep- because he didn't- but he looked worn out. This patient must've been important to him.

I was about to grunt in disapproval, but I felt sorry for Carlisle. He'd told me how much he liked Lily. He said she always made him smile. He wanted to figure out what her case was, more for her than for himself.

I nodded.

_I think you can control yourself, Edward. _Even his thoughts sounded tired.

I nodded again, and opened the cold handle on the door to room 217.

Her scent filled my head, my thoughts, but I ignored it. I was doing this for Carlisle.

I glanced towards the bed. I could see thick, long, brownish red hair covering a girl's face. She was cross-legged and leaning over, reading something. A book, maybe.

I glanced away. For some odd reason, I felt an uncontrollable desire to know what book it was.

I stepped slowly towards the patient. She glanced up at my face, not processing anything, then looked down at the book. I waited for her to think something. She didn't.

She jerked her head back up, realizing that I wasn't a regular visitor. She closed the book, not bothering to mark the page she stopped on.

She looked at me. Didn't say anything, just looked. Like I was some interesting creature. I looked back.

This girl was beautiful. Her moist lips were small, yet full, and the perfect shade of pink. Her nose was round and petite, cute. Her cheeks had a natural rosy hue that looked lovely against her tan skin. She didn't look sick at all.

But her eyes were what made her extraordinary. They were big, bold, and bright green. The most unusual color. They were big, but not buggy, which made them easy to notice, as if the unique color wouldn't have.

She shook her head, interrupting my gaze. "Sorry," I muttered. She smiled weakly, embarrassed. I realized that she'd been staring at me, also. I couldn't recall her thoughts, though. That was impossible, she had to be thinking something. I ignored it for the moment.

"I'm Edward. One of Carlisle's sons." I said, standing there awkwardly.

She smiled again. This time, revealing her perfect white teeth. She looked happy, like it wasn't a fake smile. It made her look more beautiful than before, even though I'd thought that was impossible.

"I'm Lily," she said. Her voice was just as stunning as her face and smile. It was luring and calming. Between the two words she said, it sounded like she was singing. "You can sit down."

I nodded and regained myself, sitting in a chair that was a few feet from the bed. I could pick out her smells from where I sat. The aroma was delicious. The fragrance of her warm blood, her sweet shampoo, and her citrusy and salty tan skin mixed together to make my dizzy.

I looked back at her. She was staring again, but looked away when I looked. She blushed deeply. A dark red. Not like Bella's pinkish hue. It made her more inhumanly gorgeous.

"What book are you reading?" I asked after catching my breath.

She looked at the book that was laying beside her maroon Converse sneakers.

"Wuthering Heights." She shrugged. "I've been re-reading lately. You know, my memory."

I didn't know, though. I never really payed attention to what Carlisle said about Lily. Why was she even in the hospital?

"I'm sorry, your memory?" I asked.

She nodded. "I have amnesia."

"Amnesia, really?" She needed to be in the hospital? She answered as if she read my mind.

"Yeah, my parents are desperate to get my memory back, and they heard that you're father was a brilliant doctor, especially with these cases, so they sent me here."

"But you don't leave the hospital?"

"I'm sort of like a science experiment. They're observing me." This annoyed me, it didn't make sense. A science experiment? Is that what she wanted to be?

"Shouldn't they 'observe' you doing things you used to do? Like school?"

She shrugged. "I don't care. I don't miss school."

"You don't miss your friends?"

"I don't _remember _my friends."

I didn't know what to say.

"Besides, everyone's saying that they'll let me out soon. Dr. Cullen says it'll probably be easier to remember things and places if I do them or go there. So yes, I will go back to school."

I nodded.

"But I don't _want _to go back to school."

"Why not?"

"Because. They'll all remember me, but I won't remember them. They know me, but _I _don't even know myself."

She thought to herself for a moment. Of course, I couldn't tell what it was she was thinking about.

"They know me better than I know myself."


End file.
